Born in Ecuador, he came to the United States as an exchange student in 1961, served with the Army in Vietnam, and lived in the West Chester area for decades.
Gustav Franco, 79, of West Chester, longtime international business development executive at Rohm and Haas chemical manufacturing company, founder of Galápagos Advisors investment firm, and veteran, died Thursday, July 21, of interstitial lung disease at Philadelphia VA Medical Center.
Born in Ecuador and relocated to Minneapolis as a high school exchange student, Mr. Franco went on to serve in the Army during the Vietnam War, travel the world as an international executive for Rohm and Haas in the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, and establish Galápagos, a money management and investment advice firm, in 2003.
At Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas, Mr. Franco served as a financial and administrative director in Brazil, Miami, and Mexico City for nearly 20 years. He spoke English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian, and his global perspective on economics and life in general made the company’s hiring, marketing, and other initiatives more effective.
“You have more flexibility in Brazil to park some money than you might find in the United States,” he told LatinNews in 1977. “If you are willing to take the risk, you can get a great return on your money. But you have to sleep with one eye open.”
Mr. Franco left Rohm and Haas in the 1990s and opened Galápagos in 2003, at first in Richmond, Va., and later in Malvern. “I observed firsthand how the financial needs of small and midsize institutions as well as those of many high net-worth clients were severely underserved,” he said on his company website.
Gustav Vincent Franco was born April 16, 1943, in Riobamba, Ecuador. The son of a government official, he and his family also lived in Chile and Argentina. Later, he named his company after the Galápagos Islands, a province of Ecuador for which his father served as a government official for a time.
He moved to Minneapolis as a high school senior as part of the American Field Service student exchange program in 1961 and attended McGill University in Montreal. He was drafted into the Army in 1965, spent time in Vietnam, and, after his discharge, took classes in business administration at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
He met fellow student Carol Nagurny in a history of theater class he took at Temple University, and they married in 1969. After living at first in New Hope, he moved through the international management program at Rohm and Haas by traveling to Austria, Spain, France, Britain, Italy, and Switzerland. Their daughters, Lesya and Sharla, were born while he was stationed in Brazil, and the family later settled in West Chester.
“He delighted in playing chess with his grandchildren and exploring the world through food and literature.”
Mr. Franco never lost his worldwide view, and the household hosted its own exchange student from Brazil in the mid-1990s. He was fascinated by classic Greek literature, read the works of Jules Verne, Leo Tolstoy, and Nikos Kazantzakis, and listened to classical music, jazz, and opera. In a tribute, his family called him “a true Renaissance man. He was at once lighthearted and deeply philosophical.”
He liked to cook at home with his wife and also don an apron and whip up lunch in the office kitchenette. He was politically active and served on a finance committee for the League of Women Voters. He followed the soccer teams in Ecuador and cheered for his grandchildren at their games closer to home.
His time in Minneapolis made him a Vikings football fan, and he supported the Thorncroft Equestrian Center in Malvern and Dressage at Devon after his daughters became riders. He was a chess enthusiast who urged his grandson and two granddaughters to play to win even as he shared his intricate strategies along the way.
He and his wife traveled to Venice, Greece, Croatia, and elsewhere, and celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2019 in Bermuda. Wherever he went, he immersed himself in culture and interacted with the locals. In an online tribute, a relative called him “a great mind that transcended oh so many topics. A kind and generous spirit.”
In addition to his wife, daughters, and grandchildren, Mr. Franco is survived by two sisters, three brothers, and other relatives.
He was interred in a private service at Washington Crossing National Cemetery in August.